October 2023

Our cover this month shows the great soprano Renata Scotto in one of her finest roles, Adriana Lecouvreur. We celebrate her life with tributes from Riccardo Muti and the composer Julian Grant.

Other features:

A profile of the tenor Daniel Behle as he prepares to sing Lohengrin in Amsterdam.

Nicholas Payne on the extraordinary legacy of Henry Purcell as Opera North prepares an ‘eco-entertainment’, The Masque of Might, assembled from his music, adapted and staged by David Pountney.

Marianna Bottini, a forgotten composer, with an opera, Elena e Gerardo, written in 1822 but unperformed until now, to be given its premiere by Random Opera on October 28.

John Allison on the neglected operas of Marcel Mihalovici, in particular his extraordinary collaboration with Samuel Beckett on Krapp, ou La Dernière Bande, premiered in 1961.

Regular contributor from Australia, Michael Shmith chooses a favourite recording: Turandot, with Birgit Nilsson, Franco Corelli and Renata Scotto.

Reviews include Endgame at the BBC Proms, The Fairy Queen at Longborough Festival Opera, Duke Bluebeard’s Castle and A Room of One’s Own at Savonlinna, Paria in Warsaw, Circé in Boston, Les Contes d’Hoffmann in Sydney, Rigoletto in Verona and coverage of the Bayreuth, Salzburg and Santa Fe Festivals.

Disc of the month: Andréa Chénier with Anja Harteros and Jonas Kaufmann, and the Bayerische Staatsoper chorus and orchestra conducted by Marco Armiliato (DVD).